Hungary reported how much they are willing to pay to give up Russian oil

Hungary is ready to give up Russian oil by the end of 2026, but only on the condition of compensation of “several hundred million dollars” from the European Union, György Bácsa, vice president of the Hungarian oil and gas concern MOL, told Politico.

According to him, MOL is ready to diversify its supplies until 2027, when the EU will officially stop buying Russian oil, but this will require additional expenses of $500 million, "a couple of hundred million" of which the EU should allocate. Such an amount, as Bacha noted, is necessary for the re-equipment of Hungarian refineries that process Russian grades of oil.

At the same time, he pointed out that due to EU restrictions, MOL's profit is zero today. "We have zero profit because the company is engaged in processing, so it is not entitled to any assistance from the EU, even if it is about stopping supplies, even if it is about security of supplies. So we do it at our own pace and at the prices we can afford," Bacha emphasized.

He also said he was concerned that the EU would either set a specific date for cutting off supplies or impose additional restrictive measures in the interim. At the same time, the MOL vice president expressed interest in extending the contract with LUKOIL (expires in June 2025), “if it is legally possible.”

In 2022, the European Union banned the import of Russian oil by sea, but left Hungary with the opportunity to receive Russianoil through the Druzhba pipeline, given its heavy dependence . As Politico notes, the measure was supposed to be temporary, but so far Budapest has “showed little interest in abandoning Russian oil and has even increased its dependence on it.”

Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic are excluded from the pan-European ban on oil imports from RUSSIA, which was introduced after the start of the military operation in Ukraine . At the end of June 2024 , Kiev restricted the transit of LUKOIL oil through Ukrainian territory, but Rosneft and Tatneft continued to supply oil via the Druzhba pipeline. Hungary and Slovakia promised to go to COURT and asked the European Commission to urge Ukraine to reverse this decision, but were refused.

The European Commission noted that Hungary and Slovakia managed to compensate for the interrupted supplies. They also did not see any possible risks associated with the supply. EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis advised Budapest and Bratislava to refuse oil from Russia and look for alternative sources.

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